Augustus
Edwards' heart wavered, but it never jumped. And in the end a late leap into
Edwards' very crowded recruiting pool by the University of Miami wasn't enough
to pull Edwards away from where his heart had been leading him all along.

Edwards
stuck with his instincts and Tuesday morning the Tottenville senior running
back announced he would accept a scholarship offer from Syracuse University in
a press conference at the high school.

Joined
at the table by his father Sackie, brother Josephus, sister Celestine and
Pirate coach Jim Munson, Edwards wasted little time announcing the Orange were
the choice, donning a Syracuse hat handed to him by Celestine and draping a
blue t-shirt emblazoned with an orange 'S' across the conference table.

He'll
join his recently graduated Tottenville teammate Alvin Cornelius at Syracuse.
The two-time Fabbri and Fugazzi Award winning wide receiver will be an Orange
freshman in the fall. Edwards is the latest New York City grab by head coach
Doug Marrone, an SU alum and Bronx native.

"The
coaches have been recruiting me since my sophomore year so over time I've built
a good relationship with them," said Edwards. "I went up there for a visit and
spent a couple of days up there. Those guys are working hard, exactly how hard
I want to be working. They have great facilities. They're doing a lot of
construction there to make everything better. I just want to be part of
something great that I know is going to happen there."

Edwards
is ranked among the top 50 running back recruits in the country by both Rivals.com and Scout.com.
As a junior he ran for 1,304 yards, averaging 7.2 yards per carry, and scored
12 touchdowns to earn his first Advance All Star selection.

"To
be that big, that agile, that fast, that makes him special," said Munson. "And
everybody's realizing it. Six-foot-two, he's 225 pounds now. When he gets to
college, maybe he gets to 6-3 and he gets to 240. That's a big running back.
Big running back with a lot of speed and lot of athletic ability.

"He's
a running back you never have to take out of the game. He can run the ball
downhill, he can run outside, he can pass block because he's 6-2, he can catch
the ball out of the backfield because he's got nice soft hands. So when he gets
in the game there's not a lot of substitution that has to go on. He can do
everything. He can do it all."

Edwards
said Cornelius didn't push too hard for him to follow his teammate upstate.
Cornelius shared positive impressions of the school, but mostly encouraged
Edwards to find a place where he felt most comfortable.

Indirectly,
though, Cornelius had a major influence on Edwards' impressive recruiting
profile, one that generated 17 scholarship offers. As college coaches made
their way to Tottenville following Cornelius' sophomore season, Munson made
sure to introduce them to the big freshman running back who was bound for the
varsity a year later.

Vanderbilt
was the first to take an interest and offer a scholarship, but Syracuse,
particularly assistant head coach John Anselmo, a former head coach at Nassau
Community College, soon began its own consistent courtship.

By
the end of his standout junior season Edwards had blossomed into a major
recruit and the offers poured in, from Rutgers and UConn of the Big East and
Virginia, Maryland and N.C. State of the ACC, among others.

"He
had guys from all over the country," said Munson. "Jeff Stoutland was here from
Alabama, Jerry Azzinaro was in here from Oregon. He got an offer from Miami
late. Kyle Flood from Rutgers, John Wholley from UConn. Those guys did a great
job recruiting him. Coach Anselmo, when he was looking at Alvin his sophomore
year, noticed Augustus, and that's when this process started."

But
it was Syracuse, with its strong first impression and relentless pursuit, that
remained the frontrunner all along. Only Miami, which swooped in with its offer
two weeks ago, threatened to knock the Orange off their perch. But with Edwards
determined to make his decision over the summer and end the recruiting process
before his senior year began, he stayed with the school that felt right all
along.

"They've been a leader I would say since they
offered," said Edwards. "They've always been a leader because it's a school
I've been around for a long time. They've been here since the beginning. But
there has been times when it has been tough, like recently when Miami offered
me, that being my dream school, it was hard. But sometimes you've got to do the
right thing for you and I think Syracuse is the right fit for me."